My First Ten Sexual Failures | 459 Bar | Until Sat 7 Feb | ★ ★ ★ 

British storyteller Andrew Silverwood takes to the stage and begins telling the small crowd, who have filled the tiny 459 Bar at The Rosemount Hotel, about the first time he was dumped. It was while he was standing on the platform at a London underground station.

So begins a tale about a young man in his 20’s and his quest to make a connection with the opposite sex, or sometime it’s his quest to not make a commitment to the women passing through his life.

Silverwood’s poster features him standing naked holding a teddy bear, the bear was a gift from his teenage girlfriend. The actor notes it would be a rip off to have a poster of a skinny naked boy and not deliver, so within a few minutes of the show starting he’s standing on stage with the aforementioned bear strategically held in place in font of him.

So begins a tale of not so much sexual failures but relationship, commitment and communication failures. Silverwood recounts his pursuits of girls in London and Prague, from where they met, to where it all went wrong and how each encounter came to an unhappy end.

Silverwood is honest, saying “I’m really not a nice person” – and given some of the stories and events he shares tales of, I’d have to agree. The show is very good at tapping into the bad relationships, mismatches and ‘what was I thinking’ moments that almost everyone has experienced.

The show also highlights how dating has changed in the world of mobile phones, SMS and social networks. How did we communicate before text messages? We were so needy before we all had mobile phones?

As the show progressed my interest waned, and the show ran slightly longer than expected, but Silverwood has a great talent in presenting the show in a loose way that makes it feel fresh and unique, rather than a scripted drama. His casual audience interaction was impressive.

If you think your dating life is dismal, hearing from someone who is disastrous at it, can be quite a pick up.

Graeme Watson